This blog has nothing to do with gorillas (though I love 'em)...fellow bloggers have inspired me to share vintage images of Disneyland from my personal collection. But don't be surprised if you see something from a World's Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, or someplace else that is cool!

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

If you enjoy seeing local law enforcement playing instruments, then Main Street USA is the place for you. This quartet of saxophone-playing Keystone Cops managed to entertain and bring down one of the largest crime syndicates in the United States. Good work, boys! The cheerful sounds of four saxophones (or saxomophones as I like to call them) lulls criminals into letting their guard down - it's been proven by science.

The colorful Horse Drawn Streetcar is always a jolly sight. Until one of them runs you down. Which is why I propose that they replace the current streetcars with versions made of Nerf foam, and build a railing along either side of the track all the way up and down Main Street so that people can't be hurt. Think of the children!

14 comments:

It sure looks like the photographer of the streetcar stopped by the postcard rack on the way in, as this seems to be taken from very nearly the same spot as one of the most common postcards of the streetcar. I applaud him or her for having the patience to wait for one to roll past the spot after he or she composed the shot, I often do the same thing with monorails at WDW, pick a spot and wait for a train to roll into it, one nice thing about rail transportation, you know where it will be in your shot!

If they did move forward with your excellent ideas of making the streetcar out of Nerf foam, they could sell miniature versions of it in the shops. Then when the kids get tired of pushing it around on the ground, they could pick it up and toss it around like a football. Dual purpose toys are always better sellers and Disney would like that. ;)

Yeah, the Main Street PD had a pretty solid Sax Crimes Unit in those days. It was a cymbal of how seriously they took saxual assault back then. Nowadays police departments focus more on the Vice squad, setting up a snare line to bring people in on trumpeted up charges just to impress the brass upstairs. Pretty bass if you ask me, bassoon I’m sure the reformers will chime in and sweeping change will come from oboe-ve. That’s until the lawyers get involved and somebody sues a cop, sues a D.A., sousaphone company… we live in such a litigious society. It’s good to know the Disneyland PD is always out there willing to reed you your rights when you can’t afford to hire your own mouthpiece.

The first image shows one of my favorite dining areas. I loved it back in the Plaza Pavilion days and still enjoy dining here with either a Hot Dog Combo from the Coke Corner or a full meal from the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café. A great place to watch the throngs of people pass by.

@ bigbrian-nc.com -

I agree. In the Street Car image all I could think of was the yellow "Fare" plaque lettering being blocked out with a solid yellow square.

bigbrian-nc-.com, they wanted to be sure to get that Matterhorn in the shot, even if it meant cutting off the horse's nose. Now that you mention it, I think I do remember a postcard of the Streetcar from this very angle.

Snow White Archive, you could play with the Nerf streetcar in the pool too, how many people get to do that?

Melissa, dammit, I'm trying to think of another brass instrument and I can't. Well, I can, but I don't know what to do with "flugelhorn" or "euphonium". And what about the spit valve?

K. Martinez, the Jolly Holliday Bakery Cafe was SO crowded that we couldn't even eat there when we wanted to. Boo. Hey, that postcard with the "Fare" plaque blocked with a yellow square… did you know that there is at least two (and maybe three) other variations? One with a black square, one with a dark green square and… hey, this sounds like the makings of a future blog post!

Major - That's too bad about the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café being too crowded. I ate there several times last visit and really enjoyed it. My favorite item on the menu was the tomato basil soup with toasted cheese sandwich combo.

I'm aware of the "Fare" plaque postcard variations, but only have two or three of them that I know of. There are other postcard variations for the Mark Twain and Living Desert related to clear skies vs. cloudy skies. I'm pretty sure I have the Mark Twain variations.

What goes beyond my collecting are the black vs. blue vs. brown lettering on the back of the postcards.

Suffering the Disneyland hangover today as it's my first day back to real life, and diving into these pictures is helping via hair of the dog :) Spent a good amount of time on Main Street this time and these photos are just what I needed!

Rich T., I totally agree! It would be awesome to hear "Minnie's Yoo Hoo" played on four saxophones again.

Nanook, that's as good as anything! I think of "Euphonium" as more of a "U" than an "E", but that's just me.

Melissa, that HAS to be a little girl, doesn't it???

K. Martinez, oh, I love the postcard variations! Blue water, green water. Clear sky, cloudy sky. Guy on the Mark Twain with a white shirt, guy on the Mark Twain with a red shirt. For a while I was somewhat obsessed with finding as many variants as I could… but I think I'm over it. I still like the ones I have though! Like you, I am not too interested in the color of the lettering on the other side.

PsySocDisney, sounds like you spent several days at the parks? If so, I hope you have lots of pictures to share.